Court charges Sudan president with genocide

WORLD COURT

Mike Corder, Associated Press

Published
4:00 am PDT, Tuesday, July 13, 2010

FILE - In this May 27, 2010 file photo, Sudan's president Omar al-Bashir gestures prior to being sworn in, at the parliament in Khartoum, Sudan. On Monday, July, 12, 2010, the International Criminal Court in The Hague, Netherlands, charged Sudanese President Omar al-Bashir with three counts of genocide in Darfur, a move that will pile further diplomatic pressure on his isolated regime. The decision marked the first time the world's first permanent war crimes tribunal has issued genocide charges. less

FILE - In this May 27, 2010 file photo, Sudan's president Omar al-Bashir gestures prior to being sworn in, at the parliament in Khartoum, Sudan. On Monday, July, 12, 2010, the International Criminal Court in ... more

Photo: Abd Raouf, AP

Photo: Abd Raouf, AP

Image
1of/1

Caption

Close

Image 1 of 1

FILE - In this May 27, 2010 file photo, Sudan's president Omar al-Bashir gestures prior to being sworn in, at the parliament in Khartoum, Sudan. On Monday, July, 12, 2010, the International Criminal Court in The Hague, Netherlands, charged Sudanese President Omar al-Bashir with three counts of genocide in Darfur, a move that will pile further diplomatic pressure on his isolated regime. The decision marked the first time the world's first permanent war crimes tribunal has issued genocide charges. less

FILE - In this May 27, 2010 file photo, Sudan's president Omar al-Bashir gestures prior to being sworn in, at the parliament in Khartoum, Sudan. On Monday, July, 12, 2010, the International Criminal Court in ... more

Photo: Abd Raouf, AP

Court charges Sudan president with genocide

1 / 1

Back to Gallery

The International Criminal Court on Monday charged Sudanese President Omar el-Bashir with three counts of genocide in Darfur, a move that will pile further diplomatic pressure on his isolated regime.

The decision marked the first time the world's first permanent war-crimes tribunal has issued genocide charges.

An arrest warrant for el-Bashir said there were "reasonable grounds to believe" that since April 2003 Sudanese forces attempted genocide against the Darfur tribal groups Fur, Masalit and Zaghawa.

Last year, judges issued a warrant against the president for crimes against humanity, but refused to indict el-Bashir on genocide charges as sought by prosecutor Luis Moreno Ocampo. The prosecutor appealed that ruling, and four months ago an appellate court ruled that the lower court's decision was legally wrong.

Prosecutors then filed their case again, and on Monday judges issued an arrest warrant charging el-Bashir with three counts of genocide: by killing, by causing mental and physical harm, and "by deliberately inflicting conditions of life calculated to bring about physical destruction."

El-Bashir, who was re-elected to a new five-year term earlier this year, refuses to recognize the court's authority and has repeatedly said he will not turn himself in to stand trial.

The court has no police force of its own and relies on international cooperation to arrest suspects. El-Bashir has flown to friendly nations since his original arrest warrant was issued. However, he has curtailed his travel to other parts of the world, fearing he could be arrested in countries that are prepared to execute the court's warrants.

The United Nations estimates 300,000 people have died and 2.7 million have been forced from their homes since ethnic African rebels rose up in 2003, accusing Sudan's Arab-dominated central government of neglect and discrimination.